The United States in the Light of Prophecy eBook

Chapter Eight.

He Doeth Great Wonders.

In further predicting the work of the two-horned beast,
the prophet says: “And he exerciseth all
the power of the first beast before him, and causeth
the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the
first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”
This language is urged by some to prove that the two-horned
beast must be some power which holds the reins of
government in the very territory occupied by the first
beast; for, otherwise, how could he exercise his power?

If the word “before” denoted precedence
in time, and the first beast passed off the stage
of action when the two-horned beast came on, just
as Babylon gave place to Persia, which then exercised
all the power of Babylon before it, there would be
some plausibility in the claim. But the word
rendered “before” is [Greek: enopion]
(enopion) which means, literally, “in
the presence of.” And so the language, instead
of proving what is claimed, becomes a most positive
proof that these beasts are distinct and cotemporary
powers.

The first beast is in existence, having all its symbolic
vitality, at the very time the two-horned beast is
exercising power in his presence. But this could
not be, if his dominion had passed into the hands of
the two-horned beast; for a beast in prophecy ceases
to exist when his dominion is taken away. What
caused the change in the symbols from the lion, representing
Babylon, to the bear representing Persia? Simply
a transfer of dominion from Babylon to Persia.
And so the prophecy explains the successive passing
away of these beasts, by saying that their lives were
prolonged, but their dominion was taken away; that
is, the territory of the kingdom was not blotted from
the map, nor the lives of the people destroyed ed,
but there was a transfer of power from one nationality
to another. So the fact that the leopard beast
is spoken of as still an existing power, when the
two-horned beast works in his presence, is proof that
he is, at that time, in possession of all the dominion
that was ever necessary to constitute him a symbol
in prophecy.

What power then does the two-horned beast exercise?
Not the power which belongs to, and is in the hands
of, the leopard beast, surely; but he exercises, or
essays to exercise, in his presence, power of the same
kind and to the same extent. The power which the
first beast exercised was a terrible power of oppression
against the people of God. And this is a further
indication of the character which the two-horned beast
is finally to sustain in this respect.

The latter part of the verse, “And causeth the
earth and them which dwell therein, to worship the
first beast, whose deadly wound was healed,”
is still further proof that the two-horned beast is
no phase nor feature of the papacy; for the first
beast is certainly competent to enforce his own worship
in his own country, and from his own subjects.
But it is the two-horned beast which causes the earth
(the territory out of which it arose and over which
it rules) and them which dwell therein, to worship
the first beast. This shows that this beast occupies
territory over which the first beast has no jurisdiction.